In a keynote interview at the Texas Transportation Forum last Thursday, Tesla Motors CEO/SpaceX founder/mega-entrepreneur Elon Musk unveiled plans to move his concept for an ultra-fast, air-powered transportation system a little closer to reality. Known as the Hyperloop, Musk hopes to fund a five-mile test track somewhere in Texas for further development by “companies and student teams.”
Musk followed the announcement with a series of tweets, including one that mentions “an annual student Hyperloop pod racer competition, like Formula SAE”.
Musk has described the Hyperloop as a combination of the Concorde supersonic jet, a railgun, and an air hockey table. Basically, the concept employs a series of tubes at partial vacuum to move passengers about in self-contained capsules. Thanks to extremely low air-resistance, these capsules are said to be capable of speeds up to 760 mph. Musk hopes this technology will enable travelers to make a run from Los Angeles to San Francisco, a 354-mile journey, in about half an hour.
It’s been a year and a half since Musk outlined his concept in a 58-page PDF, but given the fact that he runs some of the most innovative transportation companies in the world, it’s probably safe to say he’s been a bit busy. No word has been given on the exact date for the test track’s construction, but you can bet there are more a few geek teams out there already working on their pods at this very moment.
Click past the jump to read more about Musk’s 5-Mile Hyperloop Test Track.
Elon Musk Wants A 5-Mile Hyperloop Test Track originally appeared on topspeed.com on Tuesday, 20 January 2015 07:00 EST.
from Top Speed http://ift.tt/1AGW1HO
via IFTTT
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire